The Trump Administration just pulled back $4 billion from California’s high-speed rail project.
It would be easy to say this seriously threatens the long-term viability of the project, but the project has been lacking viability all on its own.
The project is billions over budget, years behind schedule, and no track has been laid.
It more closely resembles a work of fantasy that very seriously might never be completed (at least before flying cars are a thing) than it does an actual train people might ride some day, and Trump’s federal funding pull back is a mercy killing.
Unfortunately, California Democrats can’t take this as a gift and let go.
“This project was severely overpriced, overregulated, and never delivered,” Trump wrote on social media last week (he gets bonus points for writing in the past tense).
Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy put it even more succinctly: “It’s time for this boondoggle to die.”
Indeed. It’s a fantasy. The truth hurts but accepting it is the only way to move forward.
But this is California. We do not move forward. We talk of progress and drink to successes of the past but we are stagnant.
In a knee jerk reaction, Gov. Gavin Newsom sued the federal government, arguing Trump decision was “a heartless attack on the Central Valley that will put real jobs and livelihoods on the line”
Newsom might be right if he could deliver on the promise of high-speed rail, but he can’t. There are several reasons why the project is crumbling under its own weight (troubles with land acquisition, design, and general government ineptitude) and none have gotten substantially better.
The best Newsom did was temporarily scale back the project to focus on the route from Merced to Bakersfield, which is so far removed from a useful project.
Newsom and others cling to the jobs that have been created by this project, though many were over-priced consultants. Allegedly, the project has created more than 14,000 jobs. I have no idea if that’s accurate or overblown, but taking it at face value I can only imagine what could be accomplished if 14,000 hard-working Californians were deployed on a project that was actually attainable, like water storage or energy production or something like that.
Newsom’s next best defense is that killing this project is a “gift to China,” which probably makes sense in his internal communications meetings but does not connect in real life. China has the most advanced high-speed rail network in the world, but by invoking the Chinese, Newsom is simply highlighting how inept his administration is.
Newsom has acknowledged for years that the project is in serious trouble. At his first State of the State Address, just a month or so into his first term, Newsom told the Legislature that high-speed rail was not viable.
“Let’s be real,” the governor said. “The current project, as planned, would cost too much and, respectfully, take too long.”
“Right now, there simply isn’t a path to get from Sacramento to San Diego, let alone from San Francisco to L.A. I wish there were,” he added. “However, we do have the capacity to complete a high-speed rail link between Merced and Bakersfield.”
Newsom shouldn’t be surprised that six years later, with no meaningful progress made, that Trump is trying to pull the plug, or at least prevent further federal tax dollars from being wasted. Newsom might say today that he’s promoting the Central Valley with the Merced to Bakersfield line, but he would struggle to define how a line connecting two places that don’t really need to be connected with fares that are likely to be prohibitive really benefits the region.
Merced and Bakersfield. That’s not exactly what the voters in 2008 envisioned. It’s also not even really what’s being built. Currently the only track moving forward is from Madera to Shafter, which somehow makes Merced to Bakersfield seem lamer than it already did.
Perhaps the project will be completed someday. But the original plan approved by voters was supposed to be operational by now and yet no track has even been laid yet. The entire route is not even expected to be high-speed.
It’s obviously a failing project, so what’s the problem? The campaign for Newsom’s successor might give us a clue.
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Not too long ago, former Congresswoman Katie Porter, a Democrat running for governor, expressed her doubts about the project.
“I don’t think we should BS California voters,” Porter said. “If this high-speed rail project can get done, then let’s get it done. If it can’t get done, then stop.”
A week later, while seeking a major labor endorsement, she changed her tune. “We have to figure out how to build it,” Porter said, according to Politico.
The project is on life support, kept alive only by wishful thinking and special interest demands. In pulling back federal funding, Trump did Californians a favor.
Let’s hope California’s leadership comes around.
Matt Fleming is a columnist for the Southern California News Group. Follow him on X @FlemingWords